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How did the tick get on me or onto my pet?

Ticks are well equipped to crawl and climb,
but they neither can fly (as they never have wings) nor jump. Ticks utilize
various strategies to find their host, and these differ depending upon the kind
of tick and its stage of development. Some ticks have eyes and other means to
sense that a potential host is nearby. Upon detecting a host, these ticks may walk
or even run towards the stimulus. Other ticks ‘quest’ ; that is, they wait passively for their hosts
to contact them directly. They may climb onto vegetation to the height at which
they’re more likely to contact their preferred host. Immature deer ticks, for
instance, climb just an inch or so above the ground to put themselves in the
right range for mice and other small animals. As adults, however, these ticks
climb to nearly to knee height (for a person) where they’ll encounter deer and
other larger animals. Once they’ve climbed to their preferred site, these ticks
will use their hind legs to grasp their perch and extend their front legs into
the air. Those front legs are adorned with small but effective hooks. As an
animal walks by and brushes against the tick, the tick is passively lifted off
its perch and can then wander on the skin to locate a place to settle in for a meal.

Ticks may also arrive in our homes as
stowaways on our clothing, on our pets or on other animals that may visit our
homes. They may be attached and feeding, or still walking about freely on us or
on our animals. Those that have not yet begun to feed may soon settle in for
a blood meal, or they may be dislodged and wander about our homes. Cats and
dogs that jump on beds and sofas sometimes deliver their ticks to where we sit
and sleep, and this may increase risk to people. Once it has completed feeding,
ticks of most species will detach and drop off the host. Hence, ticks that have
engorged upon people or pets may then be found within the home environment. The
interior environment of our homes, however, is rarely conducive to long term
tick survival. Most ticks will slowly dry out and die within our homes and pose
no further risk. The brown dog tick is one exception to this rule. These
ticks may arrive home on their dog hosts and survive quite well within our
homes. They’ll feed on our pets and on people, and may subsequently attain
astounding population densities in a home.